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Minnesota History

Remembering Kenneth Dayton

Former Dayton Hudson CEO Ken Dayton is being remembered for his charitable giving to the arts. Dayton died Saturday at the age of 80, one day short of his 81st birthday. Dayton and his wife contributed more than $100 million to several arts organizations as well as a host of other civic and cultural groups over a period of 50 years. He was the last of the five Dayton brothers to run the family's retail business and left the company's leadership in the early '80s. He is the uncle of U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton.

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Runestone debate shifts to Sweden

It's been the object of devotion and derision. It's been bandied about by scientists, academics and amateur sleuths. And now the Kensington Runestone is being hauled to Sweden. The runestone was unearthed by a farmer in 1898. It's carved with an inscription some believe is the writings of Nordic explorers dating from the year 1392. Others believe it's a modern forgery, and Swedish scientists are holding a conference in October to study the evidence surrounding the runestone.

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Powerline Blues

An MPR documentary by Mary Losure called Powerline Blues. It's about the conflict over the building of a powerline from North Dakota to the Twin Cities during the late '70s.

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General Mills celebrates 75 years of innovation

Seventy-five years ago, Golden Valley-based General Mills formally came into being. Over the next several months, the company is celebrating three quarters of a century on the New York Stock Exchange. General Mills' Minneapolis roots actually date back to just after the Civil War. Over the years, the company has produced enduring brand names like Betty Crocker, Wheaties and Cheerios. And General Mills has produced a lot of things that have nothing to do with food, including toys, golf shoes, and even a small submarine.

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A mighty good road

On October 15, 1852, the first train of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad traveled from Chicago to Joliet, Illinois. Two years later it would bring a delegation of East Coast journalists and dignitaries to the Mississippi River as part of the Grand Excursion to Minnesota. Over the next 50 years, as the Rock Island Line grew, it carried passengers and freight through 14 states and became part of the story of the American west. Then it inspired a song that has been passed from generation to generation. Minnesota Public Radio's Jim Bickal has traced the stories of the song and the railroad and discovered that together they tell quite a tale.

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America's biggest real estate deal included half of Minnesota

The 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase is taking a back seat to the Lewis and Clark bicentennial observance. However, the Louisiana Purchase is arguably a bigger deal -- literally. In one stroke the size of the country was doubled. Behind the transaction lurks a tale of geopolitics and intrigue.

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Johnson and Humphrey

Two men who headed the United States in the '60s couldn't be more different. One used race and red-baiting to get ahead. The other was a champion of civil rights and civil liberties. One was a southern conservative, the other was a northern liberal. One was an insider. Each tried to use the other and they ended up running against each other for the nation's ultimate political prize. But together, Lyndon Johnson from Texas and Hubert Humphrey from Minnesota changed American history.

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Grand Portage: Rich in land, and protective of it

It's said that the twisted cedar tree has thrust from the rocky bluffs on Lake Superior for more than 300 years. The so-called "w" at the tip of Minnesota's Arrowhead region is a fixture in Minnesota calendars and tour books, and a symbol of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa. To the Chippewa, or Ojibwe, who call it Manido-Gree-Shi-Gance or "spirit-little-cedar," it's a sacred site where tobacco offerings have been sprinkled for generations.

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Can small towns in Minnesota survive?

We discuss the future of small town Minnesota. The first annual symposium on small towns, "Rural Minnesota and a Century of Change," was held Wednesday and Thursday at the Center for Small Towns at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Are there lessons from the past that small towns can use to help them now? How do the issues facing small towns now compare to what they've faced over the past few generations?

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Rick Kahn says he has no regrets about Wellstone eulogy

More than seven months after the plane crash that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven others, the man who changed the tone of the public memorial service for the victims into a political rally-like atmosphere says he doesn't understand why. In an in-depth interview with Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik, Rick Kahn spoke about his memorial service comments and the ensuing political fallout.

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